Make your own music box

 

Make your own music box

Word Count:
469

Summary:
Following are the steps to make an unique music box of your own.

Keywords:
future of pop music, future of the music industry, future music release, future of the music business, music future, future music, back to the future sheet music

Article Body:
Those of you who love to enjoy a challenge and like to do creative crafts and therefore making your own music box can contain lots of fun. Here are directions to make a unique music box called "Around the world.

Things you need
Unfinished recipe box of 5 ¾ wide * 3 ¾ "deep * 4" high 18 note key wind musical movement T bar winding key, ¾ " De' coupage sandpaper wood sealer. Decorative accessories for music box such as assortment of stamps, greeting card or postcard with traveling photo 2 brown ultra sued strips, 1/2" wide * 16 ½ " long 2 buckles, ½ " 4 brass corner brackets, 5/8" hasp catch, 1 ¾ * 5/8" small padlock.

Acrylic paint color: blue- gray, adhesives and spray sealer, industrial strength glue tacky glue gloss spray sealer, tools and brushes, drill with ¼" drill bit hammer old paintbrushes paintbrush ruler scissors X-acto knife.

Gather step by step
1. Use sandpaper, sand box and use an old paintbrush, apply wood sealer to the box by following the manufacturer's directions. Allow to dry thoroughly.

2. Use a paintbrush, paint the box inside and outside with blue gray acrylic paint.

3. By using an old paintbrush, apply a thin layer of decoupage to box and sides of the lid, working an area of about 3" square at a time. Place stamps on the box and lid sides, overlapping them as desired. Stamps should be placed over opening between lid and box so that it could be cut open later. Use a ruler and an X-acto knife, cur greeting card to fit top of the box. Apply a thin coat of decoupage to lid top and place card in position.

4. By using an old paintbrush, apply a thin layer of tacky glue to wrong side of one ultra suede strip. Start from the bottom front left corner, ¾ "in from side and 1 ½" from bottom, press strip to the box. Slide a buckle on and make a small hole to accommodate the stem of the buckle at center 1" from the end. Using scissors, cut corners of ultra suede strip on a 45 degree angle. Repeat the process for remaining ultra suede strip on a 45 degree angle. Repeat the process for remaining ultra suede strip on the other side of box. Allow to dry thoroughly.

5. Now use the X-acto knife and carefully cut the opening between the box and lid, starting the back.

6. Next drill a ¼" hole at the center back of box ¾" from the bottom. Use industrial strength glue, glue musical movement inside box, making sure the winding key shaft is centered in hole. Allow it to dry thoroughly.

7. Carefully hammer the corner brackets on the box. Turn the box back side down, center hasp catch and carefully hammer in nails. Then pull padlock on hasp catch and wind on winding key. Fill your box with favorite vacation photos.

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Making Your Own Music: Songwriting Basics

 

Making Your Own Music: Songwriting Basics

Word Count:
626

Summary:
Whether you are a teenager or are well into your golden years, it is never too late to explore your creative side, especially if you are interested in music. Songwriting is an excellent way to express your thoughts and feelings and to communicate them to your friends and family, even if you have no aspirations of musical fame or fortune. If you are interested in selling or performing your songs, however, you should be aware that it is a hard road and that very few songwriters...

Keywords:
music

Article Body:
Whether you are a teenager or are well into your golden years, it is never too late to explore your creative side, especially if you are interested in music. Songwriting is an excellent way to express your thoughts and feelings and to communicate them to your friends and family, even if you have no aspirations of musical fame or fortune. If you are interested in selling or performing your songs, however, you should be aware that it is a hard road and that very few songwriters achieve great fame or fortune, and especially not instantly. Nonetheless, if you have realistic expectations, you will find that writing music is a worthwhile experience whether it is a hobby or a profession.

People write songs in many different ways. Some writers compose the music first, while others first write the words. For some, the words and the melody come to them at the same time, while others write the melodies first and write the words last. No matter what order you are comfortable with, you will eventually have to decide what the song is about. There are a variety of different types of songs ranging from songs that tell fictional stories to songs that communicate deep personal feelings.

If you decide to write a story song, a good first exercise is to write about a news story or about something you've read in the newspaper. That way you can use your first song to hone your word choosing skills without the pressure of coming up with your own story. However, if you already have an idea for a story to tell, you can write it out in poem form and try to make appropriate rhymes and structures that help communicate what happens in the song.

Because music is so expressive, many songwriters use their compositions to express how they feel, whether it be about a person or a situation or even geographic location. Writing these types of songs can be highly personal, so every person does it differently. When you have a strong feeling about something, write it down in a notebook and come back to it later. You might think of a good line that expresses an emotion really well, and if you remember it you might be able to build an entire song around it. Having quiet time to think is always helpful when you are trying to write a song.

Writing the actual music for a song can be done in many different ways depending on your musical prowess and your focus. If you write mostly to communicate words, then a few well-chosen guitar chords might be all of the accompaniment you need. However, if you a instrumental virtuoso, your approach to writing music will be quite different. Many people think of a musical idea and play it over and over again until they think of a melody. Often times, songwriters will construct whole pieces, melody and all, without even knowing what the song is going to be about. Once the melody is complete, the writer will sit down and think about lyrics that fit the feeling behind the music and will go from there.

Once you have put together your words and music, you might feel the need to perform your new song. It is always a good idea to play for friends and family first before trying to play to a crowd. When you feel comfortable enough playing your song, you should consider visiting an open mic night at a local coffeehouse or bar. At open mic nights, songwriters can play one or more of their songs to an appreciative and attentive audience. Performers can discuss their craft with other writers, making it a fun way to learn more about the writing process.

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Buying Smart...

 

Buying Smart...

Word Count:
366

Summary:
When you are looking into buying any item there are a few things you will want to be aware of. First, make sure the item is of high quality and will work exactly the way you need it to, regardless of what it is. Make sure you are buying from a reputable retailer or business. If you need to double check, you can check with the better business bureau to see if any reports have been made on that particular retailer. There is nothing worse than buying an item that will break need...

Keywords:
online shopping,shopping,gadgets,electronics,discounts,sale,buying online,mystery shopping

Article Body:
When you are looking into buying any item there are a few things you will want to be aware of. First, make sure the item is of high quality and will work exactly the way you need it to, regardless of what it is. Make sure you are buying from a reputable retailer or business. If you need to double check, you can check with the better business bureau to see if any reports have been made on that particular retailer. There is nothing worse than buying an item that will break needlessly within days or even arrive broken.

Second, make sure the retailer offers a solid warranty on all items purchased through them. Some retailers will offer an extended warranty on specific items at an additional cost. This is entirely up to you and in addition to the original warranty offered. When buying any item, check with the retailer about the warranty and obtain a full explanation of it. If there is anything you do not understand do not hesitate to ask the sales person. Additionally, you should fully understand what you should do if damage occurs during the warranty period (where you should take the item, how to ship it, and what is covered in shipping).

Another thing you should do when looking to buy a particular item is do some comparison shopping. Look around at various retailers or websites and ensure you are getting the best price possible in addition to the best quality as well. All retailers, rather online or offline, are in constant competition with each other on a daily basis, you may be able to find a better price somewhere else. Before buying your item, look at the price and the warranty offered on that specific item and make your decision based on what is offered.

Lastly, take a good look at the type of customer service that is offered before buying anything. Make sure the retailer is readily available to answer any and all of your questions, that they are kind and helpful, and have a solid track record in customer service. All of this together will help make your buying venture pleasant and easy with the right retailer.

 

The Secret Benefit Of Search Engine Optimisation: Increased Usability

 

The Secret Benefit Of Search Engine Optimisation: Increased Usability

Word Count:
1500

Summary:
How a website optimised for search engines also improves its usability.

Keywords:
usability, accessibility, web usability, web credibility, web accessibility, css, website, accessible web design

Article Body:
A higher search ranking is what many website owners dream of. What they don't realise is that by optimising their site for the search engines, if done correctly, they can also optimise it for their site visitors.

Ultimately this means more people finding your website and increased sales and lead generation. But are search engine optimisation and usability compatible? Aren't there trade-offs that need to be made between giving search engines what they want and giving people what they want? Read on and find out (although I'm sure you can guess the answer!)...

1. Keyword research carried out

Before you even begin building your website, you should carry out keyword research to identify which keyword phrases your site should target. Using publicly available tools such as Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com" target=new>http://www.wordtracker.com), you can discover which keywords are searched for the most frequently and then specifically target those phrases.

Doing keyword research is also crucial for your site's usability. By using the same keywords in your website that web users are searching for in search engines, you'll literally be speaking the same language as your site visitors.

For example, you might decide to target the phrase, "sell toys", as your website does in fact sell toys. Keyword research would undoubtedly show you that web users are actually searching for, "buy toys" (think about it - have you ever searched using the word, "sell", when you want to buy something?). By placing the phrase, "buy toys" on to the pages on your website, you'll be using the same words as your site visitors and they'll be able to find what they're looking for more easily.

2. 200 word minimum per page

Quite simply, search engines love content - the more content there is on a page the easier it is for search engines to work out what the page is actually about. Search engines may struggle to work out the point of a web page with less than 200 words, ultimately penalising that page in the search rankings.

In terms of usability, it's also good to avoid pages with very little content. A page with less than 200 words is unlikely to contain a large amount of information, so site visitors will undoubtedly need to click elsewhere to find more detailed information. Don't be afraid to put a reasonably large amount of information on to a page. Web users generally don't mind scrolling down anymore, and provided the page provides mechanisms to aid scanning (such as employing sub-headings - see point 6 below) it shouldn't be too difficult for site visitors to locate the information that they're after.

3. 100kb maximum HMTL size

If 200 words is the minimum page content size, then 100kb is the maximum, at least in terms of HMTL file size. Anything more than this and search engines may give up on the page as it's simply too big for them.

A 100kb HMTL file will take 20 seconds to download on a 56k dial up modem, used by three in four UK web users as of March 2004 Add on the time it takes for all the other parts of the page to download, such as images and JavaScript files, and you're looking at a highly un-user-friendly download time!

4. CSS used for layout

The website of Juicy Studios  saw a six-fold increase in site visitors after switching from a table-based layout to a CSS layout. Search prefer CSS-based sites and are likely to score them higher in the search rankings because:

 The code is cleaner and therefore more accessible to search engines
 Important content can be placed at the top of the HTML document
 There is a greater density of content compared to coding

Using CSS for layout is also highly advantageous for usability, as it leads to significantly faster download times.

5. Meaningful page title

If you know anything about search engine optimisation you'll know that search engines place more importance on the page title than any other attribute on the page. If the title adequately describes the content of that page then search engines will be able to more accurately guess what that page is about.

A meaningful page title also helps site visitors work out where they are, both within the site and the web as a whole. The page title is the first thing that loads up, often quite a few seconds before the content, so a descriptive, keyword-rich page title can be a real aid to help users orientate themselves.

6. Headings and sub-headings used

Search engines assume that the text contained in heading tags is more important than the rest of the document text, as headings (in theory at least) summarise the content immediately below them.

Headings are also incredibly useful for your human site visitors, as they greatly aid scanning. Generally speaking, we don't read on the web, we scan, looking for the information that we're after. By breaking up page sections with sub-headings that effectively describe the content beneath them, scanning becomes significantly easier.

Do be sure not to abuse heading tags though. The more text you have contained in heading tags within the page, the less importance search engines assign to them.

7. Opening paragraph describes page content

We've already established that search engines love content, but they especially love the first 25 words or so on each page. By providing an opening paragraph that adequately describes the content of the rest of the page (or the site if it's the homepage), you should be able to include your important keyword phrases in this crucial area.

As web users, whenever we arrive at a web page the first thing we need to know is whether this page has the information that we're after. A great way to find this out is to scan through the first paragraph, which, if it sufficiently describes the page content, should help us out.

8. Descriptive link text

Search engines place a lot of importance on link text. They assume that link text will be descriptive of its destination and as such examine link text for all links pointing to any page. If all the links pointing to a page about widgets say 'click here', search engines can't gain any information about that page without visiting it. If on the other hand, all the links say, 'widgets' then search engines can easily guess what that page is about.

One of the best examples of this in action is for the search term, 'miserable failure'. So many people have linked to George Bush's bio using this phrase as the link text, that now when miserable failure is searched for in Google, George Bush's bio appears top of the search rankings!

As web users, we don't generally read web pages word-for-word - we scan them looking for the information that we're after. When you scan through text you can't take any meaning from the word 'click here'. Link text that effectively describes its destination is far easier to scan and you can understand the destination of the link without having to read its surrounding words.

9. Frames avoided

Frames are quite an old-school technique, and although aren't as commonplace as they once were, do still rear up their ugly head from time to time. Using frames is one of the worst possible things you could do for your search engine ranking, as most search engines can't follow links between frames.

Even if a search engine does index your pages and web users find you through a search engine, they'll be taken to one of the pages within the frame. This page will probably be a content page with no navigation (navigation is normally contained in a separate frame) and therefore no way to navigate to any other page on the site!

Frames are also disadvantageous for usability as they can cause problems with the back button, printing, history and bookmarking. Put simply, say no to frames!

10. Quality content provided

This may seem like a strange characteristic of a search engine optimised website, but it's actually crucial. Search engines, in addition to looking at page content, look at the number of links pointing in to web pages. The more inbound links a website has, all other things being equal, the higher in the search rankings it will appear.

By providing creative, unique and regularly updated content on your website, webmasters will want to link to you as doing so will add value to their site visitors. You will also be adding value to your site visitors.

Conclusion

Optimising your website for both search engines and people needn't be a trade-off. With this much overlap between the two areas, you should easily be able to have a website that web users can find in the search engines, and when they do find it, they can find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently.

 

The simpler the design, the best

 

The simpler the design, the best

Word Count:
422

Summary:
simple web design is best

Keywords:
web  design

Article Body:
What is the purpose of a good design? A good design is like a logo. It stands for what the company is for. In getting a design, one should consider how it will be of use. It can be made of more than one type, depending on the preference of a company, as long as the concept is still the same.

The simpler the design, the better. With the evolution of graphic designs came the use of more complex designs to create and to choose from. Special effects are now being used in answer to the advancement that people and the world is undergoing.

This may be expensive but they it does the job of getting more attention than its counterparts. A simplified version of this graphic design is required to some of the more simple applications.

What is image style in designs? The design is what the company should be. It is the company's representation so it would only be right for the designs to justify the company.

The clients that these companies accommodate for should also be represented in the design. Having a two-way purpose for both the provider and the consumer comprises a successful design.

Is format important in designs? Formatting your designs would add to its effectiveness. By using the right font formats, drawing and photographic applications and color management, will guarantee the easy management of these designs.

What is originality in designs? As designs represents your company, they should be unique enough for people to relate it only and exclusively to your company. This reduces the probability of misconceptions and misunderstanding in the impressions the company has to make to the people. Having an incomparable and distinctive design could make your company memorable enough for people to remember it, consciously or unconsciously.

What is the importance of appeal in designs? Appeals are what make your design attractive, no matter how simple it is. Using the right fonts and choosing the right colors that can create the correct appeal to the people is a crucial factor.

The company does not only have to think of the effect it will give today but also what it will do in the future. The appearance could be changed from time to time if necessary to generate the right outcome.

Designs can make or break the company. Most often than not, it takes time to get the right designs that can make a lasting effect. With more graphic designs being created and invented, people can have more choices to choose from.